Aston Cokayne
Sir Aston Cokayne (1608-1684) was an English poet, now best remembered as a friend of Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, Michael Drayton, Richard Brome, Thomas Randolph, and other writers of his generation. }} Life Cokayne was the son of Thomas Cokayne and Ann, the daughter of Sir John Stanhope; he was born at Ashbourne Hall in Derbyshire, and baptised on 20 December 1608. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and at the Inns of Court. Like many other aristocrats of his time, he travelled through Europe in his youth, spending much of 1632 in France and Italy; like a few, he became fluent in their languages, and translated works of literature into English. Cokayne was a Roman Catholic, and like other Catholics in his country in his era, was active in resistance against the Church of England and the social order that supported it. During the English Civil War he took the Royalist side. He joined the future Charles II in exile for a time. For much of the English Interregnum he lived on his estate of Pooley Hall, at Polesworth in Warwickshire. Cokayne was a cousin of the poet Charles Cotton (1630–87), and had connections with Cotton's circle, which included Izaak Walton (1598–1683). Cokayne held the lands and Lordships of the Manors of Pooley in Warwickshire, and of Ashbourne. But in his later years he suffered financially, due to gambling. He sold Ashbourne Hall to Sir William Boothby (see Boothby baronets), in 1671 to pay creditors, and the family subsequently lost his manor at Pooley Hall in Warwickshire. He died in poverty. Family He married Mary Kniveton, daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton, Baronet, High Sheriff of Derbyshire. Aston and Mary had 3 children: A son, who died in his father's lifetime, leaving no issue; and two daughters, Mary and Isabella, who were co-heiresses. Aston's titles and Lordships passed to main Cockayne family line; to Caleb Cockayne the male representative of the family proceeding from the sons of Sir Edward Cockayne, Sir Aston's grandfather. Ancestry |7= 7. Lady Katherine Dorothy Trentham |8= 8. Sir Thomas Cockayne "The Magnificent", Lord of Ashbourne and Pooley |9= 9. Lady Dorothy Ferrers |10= 10. Sir Nicholas Ashby, Lord of Willoughby |11= 11. – |12= 12. Sir Thomas Stanhope MP, Lord of Shelford Manor |13= 13. Lady Margaret Port |14= 14. Sir Thomas Trentham |15= 15. Lady Jane Sneyd |16= 16. Sir Francis Cockayne, Lord of Ashbourne and Pooley |17= 17. Lady Dorothy Marrow |18= 18. Sir Humphrey Ferrers, Lord of Tamworth Castle |19= 19. Lady Margaret Pigot |20= 20. – |21= 21. – |22= 22. – |23= 23. – |24= 24. Sir Michael Stanhope, Lord of Shelford Manor |25= 25. Lady Anna Rawson |26= 26. Sir John Port "The Younger", Knight of the Bath |27= 27. Lady Elizabeth De Giffard |28= 28. Sir Richard Trentham |29= 29. Lady Marie Ireland |30= 30. Sir William Sneyd |31= 31. Lady Margaret Colclough }} Writing Cokayne is the author of A Masque at Bretbie, which was performed on Twelfth Night of the Christmas season in 1639, and of Small Poems of Divers Sorts, published in 1658. He also wrote plays: The Obstinate Lady, a comedy (first printed 1657), and Trappolin Suppos'd a Prince, a tragicomedy (printed 1658); and The Tragedy of Ovid (or Ovid's Tragedy) (printed 1662). All three were published in one volume by Francis Kirkman in 1669. His works and his surviving letters constitute still-useful sources of information on the social and cultural affairs of mid-17th-century England. Cokayne's Small Poems collection of 1658 included verses to Humphrey Moseley, publisher of the 1647 Beaumont and Fletcher folio. In that poem, Cokayne, a friend to both Massinger and Fletcher, noted that Massinger was part-author of many plays in the 1647 Beaumont and Fletcher folio—which eventually inspired a sweeping examination of the authorship problem in the canon of John Fletcher and his various collaborators.McGee, C.E., Magnusson, A. Lynne, eds., The Elizabethan Theatre XV: PART I: Collective Invention and Collaboration, (Meany, Toronto, 2002); various articles. He dedicated his tragedy on Ovid, to his cousin Charles Cotton. Recognition On 10 January 1641 Charles I elevated him to baronet. Publications Poetry *''Small Poems of Divers Sorts''. London: Wil. Godbid, 1658. *''A Chain of Golden Poems''. London: W.G., for Isaac Pridmore, 1658. *''The Poems'' (edited by Richard Everett Morton). Hamilton, ON: Cromlech Press, 1977. Plays *''The Obstinate Lady: A new comedy''. London: Wil. Godbid, 1657. *''The Tragedy of Ovid''. London: Phil. Stephens junior, 1662; London: Francis Kirkman, 1669.. *''A Duke and no Duke. A farce''. London: Henry Bonwicke, 1685 **(revised by Nahum Tate). London: J. Turner, 1759. *''The Dramatic Works'' (edited by James Maidment). Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1874; New York: Blom, 1967. Collected editions *''Poems; with The Obstinate Lady, and Trappolin: A supposed prince''. London: London: Phil. Stephens junior, 1662. *''Choice Poems of Several Sorts; with three new plays''. London: Francis Kirkmn, 1669. Translated Dianea: an excellent new romance trans. 1654. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCatSearch results = au:Aston Cokayne, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 13, 2016. See also *List of British poets *List of English-language playwrights References * * }} * Notes External links ;Poems *Sir Aston Cokayne(1608-1684) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About *Cokayne, Aston in the Dictionary of National Biography Category:1605 births Category:1684 deaths Category:English poets Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:Cavaliers Category:People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:English male poets Category:17th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge